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Topic: For my brother who is battling for his life (Read 3209 times)

My brother has had an addiction to heroin for the last 5 years. He has overdosed and nearly died six times in that period. By the mercy of the Lord he has started a home detox program. He is taking certain types of medications to help take the edge of the withdrawal symptoms.Along with the struggles of withdrawal from the substance he had a terrifying experience last night that my mother witnessed. She was about to go to sleep when she heard my brother groaning. She immediately went to him and found him on lying face down on the ground. She screamed out to him but he couldn’t respond. She felt his forehead and he was ice. She immediately put him in the recovery position and called the ambulance. While waiting she was praying earnestly by his side. After 10 min he started recovering from that state. He gradually started to explain to her his experience. He said he felt something smothering him that caused him not to be able to move, not even being able to call for help. He said that he forced himself with every ounce of strength to call out and that was translated to the groaning that my mother heard. My brother along with my family is going through a very traumatic time trying to deal and overcome this situation. We need everyone’s prayers to help release him from the bondage of the drug and the evil one.If anyone has any sort of advice please feel free to share.My brother’s name is Paul

« Last Edit: September 13, 2011, 11:07:23 PM by Byzantine2008 »

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Let your will be done O Lord Jesus Christ through the intercession of you All Pure Mother and all the saints!

No advice, but Lord, have mercy. I hope your brother finds relief and peace and overcomes this struggle.

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She's touring the facility/and picking up slack.--"For in much wisdom is much grief, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow." Ecclesiastes 1:18--I once believed in causes too, I had my pointless point of view --Life went on no matter who was wrong or right

Lord have mercy! This is just awful. I'm not an addiction specialist nor have I had an addiction, so I can't speak to the addiction itself, but I do recommend saying the Akathist to Our Lady, the Inexhaustible Cup. It is usually said for alcoholics, but I was told it can be used for any sort of addiction. Just replace the work alcohol/alcoholism for heroin/heroin addiction, I suppose. I know you can find the akathist by doing a google search.

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"If you cannot find Christ in the beggar at the church door, you will not find Him in the chalice.” -The Divine John Chrysostom

“Till we can become divine, we must be content to be human, lest in our hurry for change we sink to something lower.” -Anthony Trollope

The fact that your brother had the internal will to fight with all his might against the evil force that was holding him down demonstrates that God is with him. Encourage him with this fact. Many good people succumb to addictions, and they begin to feel like hopless sinners that stand no chance of redemption. But your brother's ability to fight off these demons is proof of his desire to choose good over evil. Love him, encourage him, and let him know that the grace and mercy of God are extended to him unconditionally. And do your best to be a vehicle of Our Lord's unconditional love and grace.

And of course, by all means continue to pray for and with your dear brother.

"Lord have mercy."

Selam

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"There are two great tragedies: one is to live a life ruled by the passions, and the other is to live a passionless life."Selam, +GMK+

To God all things are possible!I have always thought addiction is the strongest of the chains of slavery by the evil one, its horrible in its power to disfigure man. be it the addiction to drugs, or all the other addictions we might not realise we have the spirtual and the physical addictions Lord have mercy!

my dear brother your brother and your family have this sinner's prayer, May the Lord have mercy on Paul! since you have asked for advice, though i know very little of this bitter battel he is under, It might help to hold a bit of personal fasting and prayer by the family on his behalf while he is undergoing the detox treatment. if he has not done so already and if he is willing to do so, bring him a priest so he can confess his struggles and his sins also. read job 33 from 14-30. it always comforts me that the Lord will accept the prayer and suplication of others on our behalf even when we are not aware of it. so pray and ask for the prayer of the church , for the intercesion of the Mother of light, and all the saints, for the healing of paul.trust that to God all things are possible!

Job 33:14-30 I have used the NIV translation here.14For God does speak—now one way, now another—

though man may not perceive it.

15In a dream, in a vision of the night,

when deep sleep falls on men

as they slumber in their beds,

16he may speak in their ears

and terrify them with warnings,

17to turn man from wrongdoing

and keep him from pride,

18to preserve his soul from the pit,

his life from perishing by the sword.

19Or a man may be chastened on a bed of pain

with constant distress in his bones,

20so that his very being finds food repulsive

and his soul loathes the choicest meal.

21His flesh wastes away to nothing,

and his bones, once hidden, now stick out.

22His soul draws near to the pit,

and his life to the messengers of death.

23“Yet if there is an angel on his side

as a mediator, one out of a thousand,

to tell a man what is right for him,

24to be gracious to him and say,

‘Spare him from going down to the pitf;

I have found a ransom for him’— 25then his flesh is renewed like a child’s;

it is restored as in the days of his youth.

26He prays to God and finds favor with him,

he sees God’s face and shouts for joy;

he is restored by God to his righteous state.

27Then he comes to men and says,

‘I sinned, and perverted what was right,

but I did not get what I deserved.

28He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit,

and I will live to enjoy the light.’

29“God does all these things to a man—

twice, even three times—

30to turn back his soul from the pit,

that the light of life may shine on him.

Lord have mercy!

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To God be the Glory in all things! Amen!

Only pray for me, that God would give me both inward and outward strength, that I may not only speak, but truly will; and that I may not merely be called a Christian, but really be found to be one. St.Ignatius of Antioch.Epistle to the Romans.

Conquer evil men by your gentle kindness, and make zealous men wonder at your goodness. Put the lover of legality to shame by your compassion. With the afflicted be afflicted in mind. Love all men, but keep distant from all men.—St. Isaac of Syria

Along with the struggles of withdrawal from the substance he had a terrifying experience last night that my mother witnessed. She was about to go to sleep when she heard my brother groaning. She immediately went to him and found him on lying face down on the ground. She screamed out to him but he couldn’t respond. She felt his forehead and he was ice. She immediately put him in the recovery position and called the ambulance. While waiting she was praying earnestly by his side. After 10 min he started recovering from that state. He gradually started to explain to her his experience. He said he felt something smothering him that caused him not to be able to move, not even being able to call for help. He said that he forced himself with every ounce of strength to call out and that was translated to the groaning that my mother heard.

When it occurs upon awakening, the person becomes aware before the REM cycle is complete, and it is called hypnopompic or postdormital.[5] The paralysis can last from several seconds to several minutes, with some rare cases being hours, "by which the individual may experience panic symptoms"[6] (described below). As the correlation with REM sleep suggests, the paralysis is not entirely complete; use of EOG traces shows that eye movement is still possible during such episodes.[7] When there is an absence of narcolepsy, sleep paralysis is referred to as isolated sleep paralysis (ISP).[8]

In addition, the paralysis may be accompanied by terrifying hallucinations (hypnopompic or hypnagogic) and an acute sense of danger.[9] Sleep paralysis is particularly frightening to the individual because of the vividness of such hallucinations.[8]

My brother along with my family is going through a very traumatic time trying to deal and overcome this situation. We need everyone’s prayers to help release him from the bondage of the drug and the evil one.If anyone has any sort of advice please feel free to share.My brother’s name is Paul

Thank you all for prayers and advice. My brother is on his fourth day of detox and he is getting through it with God and all of your prayers. Please don't forget him in your prayers as the struggle will be continuing for a long time yet. I will post updates as they occur.BTW Our Priest is visiting the house today to bless, exorcise and confess my brother.With God all things are possible!!

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Let your will be done O Lord Jesus Christ through the intercession of you All Pure Mother and all the saints!

Only pray for me, that God would give me both inward and outward strength, that I may not only speak, but truly will; and that I may not merely be called a Christian, but really be found to be one. St.Ignatius of Antioch.Epistle to the Romans.

Just giving an update of the progress of my brother’s battle for his ‘life’. Unfortunately he relapsed a few days ago to the evil substance, It was heartbreaking for everyone around but on the positive side he picked himself up with the aid of our Lord, family and friends and all your prayers and continued the struggle for freedom from the bondage of the evil one and substance! Praise be to God he has started tackling the spiritual struggle associated with bondage with lots of counsel from his Spiritual Father. The battle he knows will continue a long while yet but he is starting to realise that to be totally free one must repent truly and have a relationship with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers till now but I ask that anyone who can continue to remember my brother Paul and also my cousin Konstantinos (who is currently going through his own trial) in their prayers.Thank You and God BlessPS I will continue the updates

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Let your will be done O Lord Jesus Christ through the intercession of you All Pure Mother and all the saints!

May the Lord have mercy on them both, and help them get through their current struggles!!!

Thanks for the update!

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Conquer evil men by your gentle kindness, and make zealous men wonder at your goodness. Put the lover of legality to shame by your compassion. With the afflicted be afflicted in mind. Love all men, but keep distant from all men.—St. Isaac of Syria

Just giving an update of the progress of my brother’s battle for his ‘life’. Unfortunately he relapsed a few days ago to the evil substance, It was heartbreaking for everyone around but on the positive side he picked himself up with the aid of our Lord, family and friends and all your prayers and continued the struggle for freedom from the bondage of the evil one and substance! Praise be to God he has started tackling the spiritual struggle associated with bondage with lots of counsel from his Spiritual Father. The battle he knows will continue a long while yet but he is starting to realise that to be totally free one must repent truly and have a relationship with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers till now but I ask that anyone who can continue to remember my brother Paul and also my cousin Konstantinos (who is currently going through his own trial) in their prayers.Thank You and God BlessPS I will continue the updates

Lord have Mercy on Paul and Konstantinos!Through the prayer of your Most Pure Mother Lord Jesus Christ have mercy!

Thank you for the update, May the Lord be with you and your family.

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To God be the Glory in all things! Amen!

Only pray for me, that God would give me both inward and outward strength, that I may not only speak, but truly will; and that I may not merely be called a Christian, but really be found to be one. St.Ignatius of Antioch.Epistle to the Romans.

Lord have mercy! This is just awful. I'm not an addiction specialist nor have I had an addiction, so I can't speak to the addiction itself, but I do recommend saying the Akathist to Our Lady, the Inexhaustible Cup. It is usually said for alcoholics, but I was told it can be used for any sort of addiction. Just replace the work alcohol/alcoholism for heroin/heroin addiction, I suppose. I know you can find the akathist by doing a google search.

I agree. Try to say an Akathist as much as possible. Is your mother Orthodox? There's a nice Akathist to the Mother of God nurturer of Children that she could pray too. I pray that even for my college aged/adult children.

Its been a while since I posted about this situation but unfortunately it has not improved. My brother is still struggling with his addiction and is no longer living at home. My parents every day await for a phone call to deliver the news that my brother is either in jail or passed away. I ask again with sadness to please pray for my brother and my parents who are struggling with this situation.Kind RegardsPS Ironically my cousin is in jail and has stopped his addiction and with God I pray will be able to stay off those wretched drugs.

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Let your will be done O Lord Jesus Christ through the intercession of you All Pure Mother and all the saints!

Its been a while since I posted about this situation but unfortunately it has not improved. My brother is still struggling with his addiction and is no longer living at home. My parents every day await for a phone call to deliver the news that my brother is either in jail or passed away. I ask again with sadness to please pray for my brother and my parents who are struggling with this situation.Kind RegardsPS Ironically my cousin is in jail and has stopped his addiction and with God I pray will be able to stay off those wretched drugs.

You know it's a wonder how sometimes jail is actually helpful for addicts.

May God protect the servant of God Paul! Give him relief, no pain, no sorrow. Amen!

May the Lord have mercy upon your brother, your cousin, your family and everyone who struggles with addiction.

Lord, have mercy!

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Conquer evil men by your gentle kindness, and make zealous men wonder at your goodness. Put the lover of legality to shame by your compassion. With the afflicted be afflicted in mind. Love all men, but keep distant from all men.—St. Isaac of Syria

Its been a while since I posted about this situation but unfortunately it has not improved. My brother is still struggling with his addiction and is no longer living at home. My parents every day await for a phone call to deliver the news that my brother is either in jail or passed away. I ask again with sadness to please pray for my brother and my parents who are struggling with this situation.Kind RegardsPS Ironically my cousin is in jail and has stopped his addiction and with God I pray will be able to stay off those wretched drugs.

May the road rise up to meet you.May the wind always be at your back.May the sun shine warm upon your face,the rain fall soft upon your fieldsand until we meet again,may God hold you in the palm of his han

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Its a source of comfort for me and my family that fellow Orthodox Christian brothers and sisters are praying to help another who is need. As a matter of fact I gave my brother the link to this thread to show how people that he doesn't even know are thinking and praying for him. He was actually quite shocked to see the compassion people had instead of the usual stereotypical criticisms and judgements he has received from others around him. For the moment my brother has got a job in the construction industry and has been going for the past week. I pray he continues and starts to deal with his addiction with the help of all your prayers the Saints and the Theotokos.

« Last Edit: October 12, 2012, 04:33:51 AM by Byzantine2008 »

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Let your will be done O Lord Jesus Christ through the intercession of you All Pure Mother and all the saints!

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Its a source of comfort for me and my family that fellow Orthodox Christian brothers and sisters are praying to help another who is need. As a matter of fact I gave my brother the link to this thread to show how people that he doesn't even know are thinking and praying for him. He was actually quite shocked to see the compassion people had instead of the usual stereotypical criticisms and judgements he has received from others around him. For the moment my brother has got a job in the construction industry and has been going for the past week. I pray he continues and starts to deal with his addiction with the help of all your prayers the Saints and the Theotokos.

You should also ask for intercessions from St. Mary of Egypt! She had to deal with her own addictions. Her response was very extreme, but a wonderful witness of the power of the grace of the Holy Spirit!

Overcoming addictions is one of the most courageous and difficult things one can do. I've never had to do it personally but I have several friends who have lost it all due to severe heavy addictions yet, with help, have been able to get free and rebuild their lives. I never look down on anyone who struggles with an addiction, and those who are fighting to overcome addictions of any sort are true inspirations to me and have my utmost respect. (((hugs))) and prayers for your family and your brother... hang in there.....

May the road rise up to meet you.May the wind always be at your back.May the sun shine warm upon your face,the rain fall soft upon your fieldsand until we meet again,may God hold you in the palm of his han